Once Upon a Faerie Tale

Chapter 9

“Darby, dear, calm down!” Verona said, not expecting this reaction again. She had thought her granddaughter was prepared for this ending, even if it wasn’t really the ending. “I’m not finished telling the story!”

Darby rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest, “Fine, keep going.”

***

Once the white light had disappeared and the people were able to see again, they were surprised at the sight before them.

While the king still lay dead with Analee’s dagger protruding lewdly from his chest, his soldiers lay dead on the ground as well, their death a mystery as no wounds marred their bodies. But the most shocking sight of all, was the absence of Analee’s body for in it’s place was a marble statue that stood proud and tall. The statue was that of the young woman with her long hair and her dress held forever in the breeze of an unseen wind, every detail represented, framing her delicate body as she smiled out over the valley, looking toward the castle. At her hip rested a scabbard, holding a sword with a handle of great workmanship.

One the base of the statue, a small inscription read: Peace Shall Reign.

With the king dead the people began to rebuild their government and chose a new king to rule them, one they knew would reign fairly. And so, Josanu sat on the throne, the seat next to him, quietly reserved for the queen that still stood watching over his kingdom.

***

There was a crease between Darby’s eyebrows as she heard the last of the story. “Did Analee die then?” She asked.

“I do not know.” Verona said, “There is a legend though, that the old woman who knelt beside Analee was the ancient witch Renalie. And some say they heard what she said.”

“What did she say?” 

“According to those around her the witch said, ‘Your efforts have not been in vain. Watch over the kingdom you saved, and should it ever need you again, you will be right here.’”

Darby’s eyes grew wide, “So that means that Analee is still alive!” She said enthusiastically! “Right?”

The older woman was more skeptical, “Possibly, but the wording from the witch was ‘should it ever need you again’, so there’s no guarantee that she’ll ever be able to come back.”

“I bet if you saw it, it would be different for you.” Darby said. 

“I suppose it would.”

***

Four Years Later…

Darby tapped her pencil on the desk impatiently as she waited for the professor to get all of his papers together to hand out the syllabi to the class. He was crusty old man with crazy white hair that stuck out from every angle of his head, and his expensive double breasted suit was wrinkled and twenty years out dated. 

He walked with his shoulders slumped and his head forward, stretching his long neck and he reminded Darby of Bilbo Baggins from Lord of the Rings. Which was coincidental because this class was entitled ‘History of the English Language’ with specific focus on Old and Middle English, of which Tolkien was an expert.

Of the twelve people in the class, Darby seemed to be the most awake. Though it was eleven in the morning, all of her fellow classmates were quiet, avoiding eye contact. It had been like this from the start of class. The first day was always the most awkward, especially in small classes like this. Just as Bilbo opened his mouth to begin talking, the door opened and a familiar face she had not seen in years walked through the door. Josh Nolan entered and, spotting her, chose the seat beside her. “Hey Darby, been a while.”